I’m a lagger, but only when it comes to this blog. The way I figure it, as long as my clients/friends are receiving their photos on time, it’s okay to skip out on blogging to catch up in other facets of life once in a while. In my case, my focus has been spending time with my Husband, getting in shape, and hanging out with people who inspire me…people like my friend Anne.

When I got married, certain life situations happened in the months before our wedding outside of me and Dave’s relationship that caused me to eat my way through the emotional stress. The day of our wedding was lovely because we were surrounded by the people we love, but putting on my gown was a different story. I had gained over 20 pounds in 3 months.

A year and a half later, I’m happy to announce that I’ve turned my life around and I’m stronger than ever, physically and emotionally.

One day, I pulled my wedding gown out of the preservation box and put it on. Yes, I even tightened my own corset (although it was pretty heinous looking). Much to my own shock, the gown was pretty large. I called Anne up and begged her to shoot a session with Dave and I. I wanted to put my gown on once more before it was more than 3 sizes too large!

So that’s what we did this afternoon. Anne will reveal more at a later date, but I can almost guarantee you’ve never seen a trash the dress session quite like this one….

A couple that skates together, stays together!

These images are straight out of the camera, with no retouching or special effects. I have to mention this because I’m absolutely thrilled and thankful that Anne would give us a sneak preview within ONE HOUR after the end of our session. Anne, you never cease to amaze me!

This next shot is for my sister, Bubba. No, that’s not her real name but I’ve been calling her that for so long it may as well be. She was an amazing gymnast when she was younger (she’s all growns up now) and I kept thinking about her throughout the day whenever I wanted to laugh (outside of Anne or Dave initiating it!) or give Anne a smile that only my little sister could draw out of me. Bubba played such an integral role in helping me turn a new leaf and she was so supportive every step of the way. In the face of adversity, our relationship grew stronger than ever. Sisterhood is a powerful thing. I felt it appropriate to honor her, and push myself to try something I couldn’t do when I was feeling unhealthy. Not my most graceful moment, but I know she’ll love it.

p.s. Bubba, I landed it!

*All images copyright Anne K. of The Paper Stylist, don’t copy them!

I don’t think I want to live to see my 92nd year on earth. If, perchance I happen to, I want to live a life kinda like Irving Penn. Artist, traveler, multi-industry noted photographer….the dude lived a full life.

R.I.P., Mr. Irving Penn. I value your contribution to fashion and commercial photography, and appreciate your perfectionist approach to finding the beauty in simplicity.

What started as a “History of Photography” course in school, ended as an experience where I was given the opportunity to really sit back and appreciate Photographers such as Mr. Penn. It’s a sad day when we have to say goodbye to such a gifted artist, but I’m thankful that his work will continue to live on and inspire people, myself included.

P.S. – I heart hatchet lighting.

*all images copyright Irving Penn

…that can help you forget that you were just rear ended twice, in twenty minutes, within the same 747 feet of road.

“But what the hell were you doing on Sepulveda at 2:30pm on a Friday, Pamela?”

Well, I was trying to avoid traffic. I know, in Los Angeles that just never works. I really should have known better. I don’t even really want to get into my two accidents, both of which seem pretty sketchy at this point. A word of advice, when you rear end someone who owns a nice camera, don’t try to drive off after they question why you don’t have your license on you, and ask to please hold while they call the police. Duh, I’m going to take a photo of you, in your car, driving away in an attempt to avoid being held responsible for your own stupidity.

I digress. (As I often do, I’m a woman full of tangents)

So needless to say I got home in a foul mood. Thankfully, putting the cards from a days work in the reader feels a lot like opening presents, even if I already know what the contents are. I can’t think of any other time in my life when I got home and laughed at the first image I clicked on after having the kind of day I’ve had…

Cute tookus, Liam! I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the same room as your folks when they bust this out in front of your first serious girlfriend. I mean really, it could be MUCH worse. Believe me, I’m part of the army of photographers who enables parents to build their arsenal of embarrassing photos. It’s not bad. Adorable even.

Thankfully, I’ve got Liam the Little Man to cheer me up. I’ll explain more later, but let’s just say that if there were a “Strongbaby” competition somewhere on the face of this planet, Liam would take 1st place in the push/pull competition. He’s not even 4 weeks old yet…

Thank you Liam, Janice, J.D., and Anne, for reminding me that my day didn’t completely suck.

More to come, if I ever get off the phone with my insurance company.

At this very moment, somewhere in the world, there’s a sassy blonde on the way to Italy to live the more romantic life. For now, there’s a lonely “cheeky suite” missing it’s sassy blonde. Before Amber said goodbye to her little bachelor pad me and Anne had at it with her on a Saturday afternoon in Hollywood.

The three of us ladies set out to shoot a session where Anne could really focus on her boudoir ideas. Each idea was an equal collaboration between the three of us, but if you ask me, Anne really shined during the bedroom scenes. Please check out her blog to see her shots. I’m ecstatic that Anne has decided to return to the world of photography, and focus her creative talents on her work behind the lens.

I met up with Amber and Anne one afternoon at the Farmers Market and discussed her shoot over treats and window shopping. During our planning session, Amber and I realized we had a lot more in common than we ever thought possible. When I saw this kitchen, I saw baked goods and an apron. So did Amber…

At first I thought Amber had this smile on her face because moments earlier, she had answered the door for “Mr. Sexpot Neighbor Man” in this ensemble.

Nope. Amber’s got a sweet tooth. Like, a really, REALLY, REALLY crazy sweet tooth.

I love the light in Amber’s bedroom….

When you live in a building that offers a panoramic view of Hollywood and beyond, you have to take advantage…

While not wearing pants.

Amber had this bowtie choker that went with her wardrobe perfectly. It’s like this thing was waiting for this shoot, on this day, with this model.

Right before we took this shot, Amber was having trouble opening the bottle of spirit glue she needed to glue her ’stache on. I used a stepladder to smash the bottle, at which point Amber took the little applicator brush, dipped it in the glue on the ground, and exclamed, “I’m gonna stick this on my face!”. We were in stitches until we wrapped a few minutes later.

Amber, may you enjoy showing the rest of the world your secret ’stache. Good luck in Italy!

About a year ago, I started offering my “portrait” booth as an alternative to the classic photo booth setups that I had seen at many events. At the time, I offered unlimited shooting and 4×6 color or black and white prints on demand, custom backgrounds up to 20 feet wide, custom logo’s and banners on the prints, and free clear bags, glassine envelopes, or custom enclosures.

But wait! Now there’s more!

A couple weeks ago when Anne helped coordinate Oscar & Tanya’s booth, we did so in less than 3 days. Tanya & Oscars friends scoured Party City and picked up a gigantic box of various props, and Tanya chose a plain white background because she knew there would be no lack of color based on her wedding decor and attire.

The night before the booth was ready to rock and roll. It occurred to me that Anne had all of the design files for Tanya’s invitation suite. I gave my buddy a call and begged her to make me some custom labels for the clear bags that were going to be used to hold the prints. Without hesitation, she hung up the phone and got to work.

Anne arrived to set up with a package full of these labels in her hot little hands:

I knew the second I spoke to Tanya for the first time that her booth was going to be fun because her friends were putting a lot of effort into the props. Since that was the focus (in addition to having a good time), I knew that surprising her with these labels would be a great way to give her guests the information without adding any distracting elements to the photos.

As an added bonus, Anne also made me these labels to use on the back of prints, on bags, and to hand out to little kids. Not quite as cool as getting a sticker from a Sheriff, or the Dentist…but not bad for a handout from a random Photographer at a wedding, right? =)

I’ve found that sometimes guests haven’t had a proper family portrait taken in years, and when they arrive to an event and see my setup sometimes they want to make the most of it and get a few shots for their homes and offices. In this case, it’s nice that I can offer them a print without a custom banner so that it will fit nicely in a frame without distractions. Plus, they have the option of getting an enlargement. Since I use a portrait studio lighting setup, it’s easy to grab a few family portraits after guests are done having fun for a few frames.

That’s where the custom label option comes in handy. So many folks are taking the time to work with Designers like Anne, that by the time they contract my services they typically have access to the creative elements they’ve developed to make their own event unique.

I do receive a lot of questions about my booth via email. Because there are few limitations to what I can do with my setup, I’ve found the best way to give interested parties access to specific information is to send out an information packet via email or snail mail after we’ve discussed all of the tiny little details during a consultation in person or over the phone (if you’re out of town).

I can tell you that the most common questions I receive are about cost, prints and about how many photos to expect in a 3 hour block. On average, the portrait booth costs about half as much as a portable classic style booth, depending on the level of customization. The 4×6 photos take about 30-60 seconds to print, and we keep them displayed in any way our client sees fit until their guests are ready to pick them up. Typically, we can do anywhere between 200-300 images in a 3 hour block (our most common package) which varies depending on how long guests spend putting on props and taking breaks to participate in other activities during the event. The booth is really only limited by your imagination, and thanks to my creative pals like Anne, it’s pretty easy to create just about anything you need to put your own twist on it.

Interested in booking the booth for your event? Email me at pamela@pamelamastersphotography.com

Oh, and big ups to Anne. I’m on a mission to learn a hundred different ways to say “Thank you” because of your continuous hard work, support, and friendship.

A good friend of mine asked me to come shoot her dance performance at the Celebrate Dance Festival on a Sunday afternoon at the Casa Del Prado Theater in Balboa Park. Needless to say, I was so impressed that these women inspired me, and I came home with an idea that I’m hoping to turn into a reality very soon.

I digress.

The Celebrate Dance Festival is a weekend event in San Diego’s Balboa Park that takes place each August. It’s free, open to the public, and features over 70 regional dance groups. I had a shoot earlier in the day up here in Los Angeles so I missed every other performance except for “Fimmine”, created by Sarah Swenson, and performed by Vox Dance Theatre . I’m really glad I was finally able to see my friend Alli at work!

I’ll let the festival program describe Swenson’s piece:

“Using only their gowns and Philip Glass’ thundering polyrhythmic score, seven brides face down one of society’s most loaded rituals.  Employing potent imagery and a spirited rhythmic attach, Fimmine exhibits the devotion, sisterhood, and fierce passion these women summon on their way to the altar.  Swenson’s signature work.“

I thought the piece was beautiful, and the ladies performed well. Here are some of my images from the afternoon:

On Sunday, September 12th, 300 Elite Yelpers arrived at the Los Angeles meeting & Event Center to celebrate the Yelp “Sweet September” Event. MKay over at Kitchen 12000 asked me to shoot the event, and of course I immediately jumped in the pool, especially since my last experience working with the K12000 crew was so legit.

The All Star Crew for the afternoon was a guarantee that me and the Yelpers would have a good time:

Yelp

Kitchen 12000

Essential Chocolate Desserts

L.A. Meeting & Event Center

Floral Fields

DJ – Armando Jovel

Lillian Vicky, Makeup Artist – lillianvicky@yahoo.com

Anne K., who Michael Kay also asked to cover the event, shot the K12000 crew in the kitchen while I circled the building capturing a little bit of everything. The two of us wanted to make sure we had full coverage, and the chick can photograph food, while I have triple A.D.D. and enjoy cruising around a venue. Be sure to check out her images from the event, but do so on a full stomach. No need to torture yourself.

I arrived and started documenting the makeup process. The ladies were all given costumes designed by Nonee of Kitchen 12000 with the help of Torn Up Tees. Lillian Vicky and crew rocked the makeup application, making sure each girl was given a unique set of hot pink feather eye makeup, and a coordinating overall look to match.

The bartenders were given slightly different makeup….

The Kitchen 12000 favors were genius. In the bag: edible non-toxic mushroom, granulated sugar, oregano, and in the syringe, pomegranate juice.

The ladies ready to serve the hungry yelpers…

Treats were put out over hot pink satin, and accompanied with crazy colorful lit centerpieces. Not something you see everyday, then again, you don’t typically spend a Sunday afternoon feeling like a Wonka contest winner.

I watched Melissa of Essential Chocolate Desserts refill these platters numerous times. The rice krispy treats seemed to go quickly. Makes sense, the popsicle stick made them easy to eat and really, who doesn’t love such a classic treat?

The chocolates were provided by KC Chocolatier, and were also very popular.

I’ve seen submerged floral centerpieces before, but the twisted metal wires that looped around the base of each Calla were a nice touch. The height of the lit centerpieces complimented the varying heights of the dessert bar platters. The minimal use of hot pink roses seemed smart, as to not overpower the linens.

A bar featuring world cuisine inspired hummus, pita, and various flavor accompaniments was just perfect for balancing the sweet and savory…

Arlene Vee of Kitchen 12000 poured ice cold milk to accompany all of the chocolate treats…

And for those yelpers who didn’t have to report to work first thing Monday morning, the hosted bar was a popular option, complete with candy inspired adult beverages.

Yelp provided their Elites with these old school style metal lunch boxes. Inside, an authentic old school thermos. Somehow, I don’t see these yelpers putting chicken noodle soup in their containers. They were also given a goodie bag filled with treats.

Thank you to Michael Kay for including me in this event. I’ve always wanted to attend a Yelp Elite event, I still can’t believe how much fun I had because I was able to shoot it too! Thanks to everyone else who brought this event together, including Dawson over at Yelp, Melissa at Essential Chocolate Desserts, and Debbie at Floral Fields. The sites, sounds, and tastes you guys provided made this such a fun event to capture!

To see more: Check out the reviews of this event on Yelp, or read more on the Yelp blog.

…that forces wedding guests to wear their inner freaks on their sleeves.

Okay, maybe the hosted bar had something to do with it. Maybe that box of props that showed up right after I started snapping away just inspired people. Or maybe, Tanya & Oscar have friends like mine.

Sure, I could have censored some of the more wild and crazy shots, but that wouldn’t be any fun now, would it?

Thank you to Anne K. for connecting the dots between Tanya and I. See, Tanya had Anne design her invitation suite, and at the last minute during a meeting between the two of them, Tanya mentioned how much she would have loved to have a portrait booth. Of course the first thing Anne did was give me a call and coordinate the last minute addition of a portrait booth to Tanya & Oscar’s wedding at the Los Angeles River Center and Gardens.

Tanya and Oscar chose a modern day Fiesta theme for their wedding. Check out their invitations by Anne. Just hours before their wedding, Anne designed some labels for the bags that we included with each 4×6 print that each guest took with them. I was hoping to provide a photo of the label upon showing you this slideshow, but I’ve been so incredibly busy I haven’t had a chance to take a photo yet!

I’d also like to thank Carina of Tealight Weddings. From the moment I was added to Tanya & Oscars lineup, Carina made sure I was in the loop. It’s event coordinators like her who make my evening easy. I always knew where to find someone for a cleanup on aisle 6 (aka, spilled liquor in front of the booth), or when to quiet down so that the guests could focus their attention on some of the evenings other activities. Thanks Carina!

And like I haven’t written about her enough lately, a neverending thank you to Anne. She was in charge of the prints for the evening and that is no easy task. I can always count on her to show up ready to command the print station without any hangups or delays. To be able to call someone up 12 hours before an event and ask them to design custom labels without any hesitation or second thoughts is really an incredible bonus to working with someone as talented as her. Hello, my name is Pamela and I’m the President of the Anne K. fan club.

To view Oscar and Tanya’s portrait booth slideshow, click here or anywhere in the image below. *Warning* The photos in this slideshow are hardly G-rated. In fact, if you’re at work or there are little ones in the room, you may want to wait until later to check out these photos.

If you happen to be a guest from Oscar and Tanya’s wedding and you’re interested in ordering reprints from the portrait booth, please email me at pamela@pamelamastersphotography for ordering information.

When I smashed a bottle of spirit glue so Amber could put her mustache on?

No?

Oh that’s right, I haven’t told you about my day yet.

It started like this…

But ended like this…

And all those juicy details in between? Well I guess you’re just gonna have to hold on to your mustache and hang tight.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be unveiling a few changes around these parts. As for now, you’re probably noticing that my blog received a facelift. This is just one small piece of a rather large collaboration between Anne K. and myself, with the help of my techie husband, Mr. Masters.

If you happen to be waiting to receive information, images, or other products in the mail, it looks like you’ll be getting a sneak peak at my new packaging and stationary suite. In the meantime, everyone else will just have to wait for photos.